Lewis's Story
by Colette Amelia
Summary: Halfway through Season 3 Lewis leaves Cleo and everyone else to study at the American Marine Biology Institute. But the institute is nothing like he expected. The students there are in trouble, and they think he is the key to solving their problems. But is he? There are things at the institute Lewis has never seen before, and this time, he's not so sure science has all the answers.
1. Chapter 1

**Lewis POV**

Lewis McCartney sat in the fifth row of Flight 341 to Key West, Florida. He had been lucky enough to get the window seat in the row—in fact, everything about his situation seemed to be nothing but lucky. Although he applied, he didn't actually expect to get into the American Marine Biology Institute. And yet, here he was: on a plane there now.

He glanced at the newlywed couple sitting next to him and then looked back to the Earth below him. The plane was currently above water. He sighed. Well, not everything about his situation was lucky.

It seemed that no matter where he looked he was reminded of Cleo, the girl he had been forced to leave behind. She was more than a girl really, not only was she his girlfriend but she was the most amazing person he knew. He wished that she could be sitting here with him—them both on their way to the American Marine Biology Institute—but he knew that even if she had applied and been accepted she wouldn't have come. It would be too much of a risk for her. Being at a Marine Biology Institute practically guaranteed that Lewis would be getting wet at some point, and Cleo couldn't get wet. If Cleo were exposed as a mermaid at this Marine Biology Institute, it would be like one of Lewis's nightmares come true. He would never forgive himself for placing her in such a position.

So, it was really a good thing that Cleo wasn't here, even if he missed her…a lot.

He looked out the window again. From the plane's altitude Lewis couldn't see the waves crashing on the beach, but he didn't need to. He could already see it in his head. The familiar scene made him smile, and for a minute he was able to pretend that he was still in Australia and Cleo had only just ducked beneath the water. He couldn't fool himself for very long though. He knew that the water he was looking at wasn't the Pacific Ocean, nor was the land the coast of Australia.

He wondered what Cleo was doing right now. He liked to think that she was with Rikki and Bella, having fun swimming around Mako Island. He checked his watch—she would still be asleep, not swimming.

He shouldn't be worrying about Cleo, he should be looking forward to all the studies he'll do and all the equipment he'll get to play with when he got to the institute. Although he hated to leave Cleo and the girls when they still hadn't figured out what was going on with Mako and the tentacle, he had to trust that Cleo would take over his research. Besides, no matter how much research he conducted on mermaids and Mako Island, he could never get any credit for it, nor would he ever try to. But that meant that he had to find some way to do research that could be credited, and that was one of the main reasons why he applied to the institute in the first place.

He reached into the back-seat pocket in front of him and pulled out the brochure AMBI sent him in the mail. On the front it showed a picture of the waters surrounding Key West, which were very impressive. Then on the inside there were pictures of schools of fish, turtles, dolphins and sharks—all very alluring—but Lewis had already looked through the brochure about fifty times during the 18 hour plane ride. He had practically memorized all the information inside as well.

Lewis felt a pair of eyes on him as he leaned forward and replaced the brochure. He knew exactly whose eyes they were too. He turned around and for a brief second his eyes met a pair of hazel ones. The light amber eyes belonged to a small girl with cropped black hair who he thought was probably about his age. Every time he saw her he got this strange feeling, like he had seen her somewhere before. But he had no clue who she was.

He had first caught her staring at him back in the airport in Sydney. When he first got on the plane taking him from Sydney to Los Angeles, he thought it was simply a coincidence that she was on the same flight, but when she sat down in the seat diagonally behind him on this flight to Florida, he decided that the chance it was a coincidence decreased. Sure, there was still the possibility, but then why did she keep staring at him?

He turned back around and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Was it possible that she was one of the other five accepted into AMBI? He had assumed he was the only student in Australia who got in, but, now thinking about it, he realized that his assumption was probably wrong, not to mention a bit egotistical.

As the pilot announced that they would be landing soon, the flight attendant walked down the aisle carrying a large trash bag. When she reached his aisle, he reached across the couple, apologizing, and tossed his empty cup in the bag. The flight attendant took another step, letting the people behind him throw away their trash. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the short-haired girl toss a cup and napkin in the bag.

"Thank you," she said to the stewardess.

Lewis frowned. He wondered if he had heard her correctly. The girl's accent definitely wasn't Australian. It was American. Did that mean she wasn't another student selected to study at AMBI? It was still possible that she was, only she must have been chosen from the applicants from the United States. But then why had she been in Australia? Unless she wasn't even going to AMBI, which once again begged the question: why was she staring at him?

Was it possible that she thought him to be attractive? He had only dealt with more than one girl liking him once before. And, thinking back to everything that happened during that time, he had royally screwed things up before making it all right again. Since then, the only girl who has had eyes for him was Cleo, and that was the way he liked it. Just because he and Cleo would be almost ten thousand miles apart for six months didn't mean they weren't still together. He had every intention of returning and picking things back up where they left off before they head to college.

Over the loud speaker, the pilot announced that all passengers should "be seated with their seatbelts fastened" as the plane had begun its descent into the Florida Keys. Lewis checked his seatbelt and gripped the armrests next to him. He definitely preferred boats to planes—and after 18+ hours of being on a plane, he was very eager to have his feet touch ground again.

The wheels of the plane met asphalt and he was thrust forward as it came to a stop. It pulled up to the gate as the flight attendant welcomed the passengers to Key West.

Grabbing his backpack from the overhead storage, Lewis disembarked the 747. He followed the signs to the baggage claim to get his suitcase. The institute had said they would send a car for him, he just hoped he would be able to find it. Maybe the driver would be waiting by the baggage claim for him. Sure enough, as he stepped off the escalator his eyes caught sight of an old man in a sailor's hat holding a white poster that said his name on it. He gave the man a small nod before walking over to the carousel and pulling his suitcase off the belt.

Tugging his suitcase behind him, Lewis walked up to the old man. "Hi," he said, "I'm Lewis."

The old man held out his hand. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Jack."

Lewis took it and shook his hand. The man didn't move after that though. "Umm, Jack? Shouldn't we get going?" he asked.

Jack frowned at first but then raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, not yet. We're still waiting on some—oh! There she is!"

Lewis turned around to see who Jack was talking about, only to find himself face to face with the short-haired girl from both flights.

She smiled wide at him as she came to stand with them. "Hi, Lewis!" she said enthusiastically, "I'm Leah."


	2. Chapter 2

**Lewis POV**

Leah. So that was her name. But a name didn't explain why she had watched him for hours. Nor did it explain how she knew his name or that he was going to the American Marine Biology Institute. Her knowing those things, along with him not knowing a thing about her, made him wonder if she was a stalker.

They followed white-haired Jack out of the terminal to the car parked outside. They threw their bags in the trunk. Lewis noticed that Leah didn't have a large suitcase like he did—she only had a small duffel bag. Was that for her time in Australia, since he could tell from her accent that she wasn't from Australia? If so, then she hadn't stayed very long. But there was also the possibility that the bag was for her stay at AMBI, and if that were the case then it didn't look like she planned on staying there. Or she could simply be a light packer, but he doubted that—Cleo always over packed—and he was pretty sure that all girls were the same when it came to that.

"So, Leah," he said awkwardly, "Are you one of the six?"

She wrinkled her eyebrows and frowned. "One of the six?"

"You know. One of the six applicants who were accepted to study at the American Marine Biology Institute."

"Oh!" Understanding dawned on her petite face. "Umm, no. I've actually been studying at the institute for over two years now."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

She was a year younger than him, and she had already been at the institute for more than two years—she must be some kind of genius.

Lewis caught the look Leah and Jack tried to secretly exchange, but he didn't understand what it meant. The two clearly knew each other. Well, Jack had recognized Leah in the airport. Did that mean Leah was coming _back_ to AMBI? If so, again that begged the question—what had she been doing in Australia? He supposed he could just ask her.

"What were you doing in Australia?"

"Research," Leah said and smiled at him.

It made sense—she went to AMBI—and her answer sounded sincere. But, for some reason, Lewis had the faintest feeling she was stretching the truth.

He didn't say another word for the rest of the ride. He just stared out the window, taking in the scenery. Again, his thoughts wandered to Cleo. He really missed her. He pushed her to the back of his mind—she wouldn't want him to worry about her all the time—she would want him to look forward to all the research he would get to do.

He hoped they would let him collect his own data samples and not leave him in a lab all day. Not that the lab wouldn't be totally awesome with all the interesting equipment, but, ever since Cleo, Rikki and Emma became mermaids he really enjoyed "going out in the field" as researchers would call it.

Jack drove off the highway and turned down a hidden dirt road. For a minute, Lewis wondered if he had gotten in the wrong car. Where was Jack taking them? But then, after a couple minutes, the car pulled out into a clearing by the water. There was a long wooden dock that led out to the ocean with a sailboat hitched to it. There was a sign at the start of the dock. It read "Private Property. No Trespassing." Jack parked the car next to the dock. Leah hopped out of the car, suddenly full of energy. Lewis followed her to the trunk where he retrieved his suitcase and walked with her to the dock where Jack was waiting for them.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Lewis asked, "Where are we going?"

"To the institute, silly," Leah said.

"I didn't know the American Marine Biology Institute was on an island."

"Yup," Leah said, "we have our own private island. It makes things a lot easier."

Jack turned around and shot Leah a warning look but Leah didn't seem to notice, either that or she didn't care.

"But the address on the brochure is for a place on the mainland."

"Oh, that's just our cover."

"Cover?" It was his turn to frown.

Leah nodded but didn't say anything else.

What would the American Marine Biology Institute need a cover address for? What was Leah and Jack hiding? What was AMBI hiding?

**Juliette POV**

"Go fish."

Juliette sighed and picked up another card from the diminishing deck in front of her. At this point she probably had more cards in her hand than there were sitting on the table. She looked at the card she just picked from the top of pile. Another five. She placed it with the other one. Out of all the cards she had, she was only close to getting four of a kind with one number, and it wasn't five.

"Got any twos?" Ella, the girl sitting cross-legged in front of her and her absolute best friend, asked.

Juliette groaned and slid her two twos across the table to her friend.

"Thank you." Ella took the cards and placed two more down with them—creating yet another match. That gave her five while Juliette only had one.

"I give up," she said and threw her cards down on the table.

Ella laughed at her. "You're just a sore loser."

"No," Juliette countered, "You've already won four games in a row!"

Ella tugged a piece of her long, dark brown hair behind her ears and began pulling all the cards towards her. "Well, what do you want to do instead?"

"I _want_ to go for a swim," Juliette grumbled.

"We could go down to the pool," Ella said.

"That's not what I meant."

"Jules, you know Evette doesn't want us doing that right now."

"I know, I know." Juliette sighed again. She longed to go for a long swim in the crystal clear waters that surrounded the island, but it was forbidden for the time being. After it took Marguerite almost 12 hours to return to normal, all the girls were temporarily banned from swimming in the ocean. "Do you think they're back yet?"

"Who?" Ella asked.

"Leah and Lewis, of course." They hadn't seen Leah in almost two weeks, and Juliette definitely missed having the older girl's bubbly personality around the island.

"They must not be. Marguerite said she would come get us when they were close."

"What do you think he's like?" Juliette got up and went over to the window.

"I don't know," Ella said, "it's not like I've ever met the guy."

"I wonder if he's cute." Juliette mused.

Ella raised her eyebrows. "He has a girlfriend you know."

She did know that. She also knew that Lewis was a huge science geek, played the drums and was a senior in high school—all things Leah had reported to them during her daily check-ins.

"And you have a boyfriend." Ella reminded her.

Juliette rolled her eyes at her friend. "I know that," she said, "But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good looking guy when I see one." Ella snorted but Juliette ignored her. Juliette moved away from the window and sat down on her bed.

Actually, she and Ella were lucky compared to the other girls on the island. Both of their boyfriends were staying in the area even though the summer was long over. Juliette's boyfriend, Riley, lived in Key West with his family who owned a water park, while Ella's boyfriend, Mason, who had worked for a corrupt marine biologist over the summer was now working on the island at "the institute".

It was about six months ago when Juliette and the other girls began to notice something was wrong. At first, Juliette thought nothing of it, but then the problems escaladed, spiraling out of control, and now the girls were prohibited from swimming in the ocean. Mason had been working alongside the girls' teachers and Evette, Juliette's grandmother and head of "the institute", for many weeks with no results. Evette and the teachers thought that Mason might have been able to see something that they couldn't, but Mason was still very new to the workings and happenings of the island.

That was when Leah had the idea of bringing in an outsider—but not just anyone—someone who was already familiar with their situation. At first, everyone was extremely uncomfortable with the idea. It wasn't often that they welcomed outsiders on their island. But once Juliette, Ella, Marguerite, and even Summer and Cecilia, agreed with Leah, the teachers were forced to concede. They sent out messages to schools around the world, asking for students to apply to the American Marine Biology Institute—the same cover they used when bringing in new girls each summer. It was the letterhead Juliette first saw last June. But, at this point, if things didn't get fixed, Juliette was worried there wouldn't be any new girls this summer.

After the messages were sent out, the applications came pouring in—over the years the graduates of "the institute" have given their cover quite a prestigious and well-respected name. All the girls did a bunch of research on the applicants, a different person investigating a potential lead each time they found one in the pile. It had been a lot of work. It was only fitting that the lead Leah checked turned out to be the right one. Once she discovered Lewis, Leah stayed in Australia for another week—secretly watching him and his friends to make sure he was the person they needed—and the person who could be trusted to keep their secret.

Suddenly, Juliette heard the pounding of footsteps from down the hall draw closer to her and Ella's door. A second later, Marguerite burst through the door, her long, blonde hair trailing behind her. Juliette didn't think she had ever seen Marguerite in such a rush before. The other junior was Leah's complete opposite—usually calm and always taking things slow—and yet, the two were practically inseparable, just as she and Ella were.

"They're almost here," Marguerite said, slightly out of breath. Then she turned back around and disappeared.

Juliette hopped off her bed as Ella sprang out of her chair. Ella was on her heels as Juliette rushed out the door after Marguerite. They followed her down the open hallway, the breeze ruffling Juliette's amber-colored hair. They ran down the cobblestoned path to the trees and bushes closest to the dock. The three girls ducked behind the thick bushes, peeking through them to spy on the people disembarking the familiar sailboat that had just pulled up to the dock. Jack climbed off the boat first, followed by Leah, and then by a boy with shaggy blonde hair.

Juliette smiled. "He _is _cute."

Again, Ella rolled her eyes.

Marguerite nodded in agreement but then said seriously, "I just hope he can help us."

Juliette and Ella shared a worried look before gazing back out to the dock where Lewis stood. Their future depended on him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**To everyone who read/liked this story: I am soooo sorry that I haven't updated it in months. It turns out that I am not very good at keeping up with multiple stories. I will try to be better about updating this one as well as my other from now on. Hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**_

**Lewis POV**

Lewis got off the boat after Leah, carrying his suitcase in his left hand. The island wasn't too big. In fact, it seemed to be about the same size as Mako Island. Lewis wondered what the name of this island was. Stretching along the coastline beneath the dock was a white sand beach that faded into a bunch of large boulders. Beyond the boulders, a few shack-looking buildings stuck out over the clear water. It was certainly one form of paradise. He wished Cleo could see it—it reminded him of the wall in her bedroom.

Standing where the dock met the shore was a woman with stark white hair. If it wasn't for the color of her hair, Lewis never would have guessed her to be older than the other women standing beside her. The woman to her left had shoulder length dark brown hair while the woman to her right had long blonde hair with bangs. The two women looked to be in their upper twenties, but Lewis couldn't guess the age of the older woman. Leah led him up to the older woman and introduced him.

"Lewis," she said, "this is Evette. The head of the institute."

Lewis held out his hand to the elderly woman. "Nice to meet you. I really appreciate that you've given me the opportunity to study here."

"Well, we're really glad you're here," Evette said, shaking his hand.

"You have no idea," Lewis heard Leah whisper under her breath. He wasn't sure whether he was meant to hear the comment or not, but he chose not to acknowledge it.

Gesturing to the women beside her, Evette said, "This is Suzanne and Brooke, two of our teachers here. You'll get to meet our other two teachers, Kylie and Tanya, later."

Lewis smiled and nodded to each of them. Was Jack the only other guy on the island? Lewis found that slightly odd. Was the American Marine Biology Institute a girls only school? It certainly looked that way. But then why was he here?

"Come," Evette said, "We'll give you a tour of the island." He followed Evette, Suzanne and Brooke off the dock and onto a cobblestone path. He also found the fact that they introduced themselves using their first names odd.

Leah walked behind him, falling back a bit. He hoped she didn't ditch him. Even though he didn't really know her, he was starting to enjoy her company, and definitely didn't want to be left alone with the head of the institute and two of its teachers.

Pointing to a larger building to his right, Evette said, "And that is the dining hall. It is open from 7am to 9pm every night, so I hope you aren't the midnight snack type." She smiled at him in the loving grandmother sort of way. He wondered if she was even old enough to have grandchildren. He still hadn't figured out how old she was, but there was no way he was going to ask.

"Over there is where we hold our indoor classes," Evette pointed to another building beyond the dining hall, "and then the student suites are down that path." Lewis's eyes found another cobblestoned path to his left between two palm trees.

Just then, a woman with long red hair, who looked to be about the same age as Suzanne and Brooke ran up to the group.

"Ah, Lewis. This is Kylie, another one of our teachers here," Evette said, gesturing to the young red-haired woman. Again, Lewis wondered the age of these woman, and, if they were in fact as young as he suspected, then how could they be experts in the field of marine biology?

Kylie nodded to Lewis but then immediately turned to Evette. "Tanya and Mason need your help in the lab," she said, "right away." Her eyes widened to emphasize the significance of the problem.

Lewis wondered what could be so urgent, but, at the same time, he didn't care. He did care that Kylie had said the word "lab". This island, whatever it was called, had a lab. And, because he was at the American Marine Biology Institute, Lewis suspected that this lab held the most advanced technology there was. That idea alone made him happy he had decided to come after all. And, on top of that, Kylie had mentioned someone named Mason, so, he and Jack weren't the only two men on the island. Perhaps Mason was even another one of the applicants accepted.

Turning to Lewis, Evette said, "I'm sorry Lewis, but it appears that I am needed. I trust that Leah and Marguerite here will give you a more than satisfactory tour of the rest of the island."

Marguerite? Who was Marguerite? Lewis turned to find that Leah was no longer standing alone. Beside her was a girl with long, straight, blonde hair and blue eyes. She was also much taller than Leah—Leah's head only came up to this girl's chin.

"This is my sister, Marguerite," Leah said, smiling. Lewis thought he had seen Leah happy before, but now the petite girl was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Sister?" Lewis asked, doubtfully. He couldn't help it. The two girls looked nothing alike.

"She means best friend," Marguerite clarified, the tone of her voice soft and even. Lewis suspected that the girls' looks wasn't the only way in which they differed. But he followed the two of them down the cobblestoned path towards what Evette had called the suites.

**Juliette POV**

"I can't believe she just did that," Ella whispered again from her place in the bush beside Juliette. She just stared ahead at the path where Marguerite now stood beside Leah and Lewis.

"I want to meet him," Juliette said, standing up, but Ella grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"You know you can't," Ella said, "not yet, at least. It's only supposed to be Leah for now."

"Umm, Ella? In case you haven't noticed, Marguerite is now up there with Leah and Lewis too. I don't see any request from Evette stopping her," she pointed out.

"Jules, it's different for Leah and Marguerite," Ella said, "You know they haven't seen each other for weeks now. I don't think I could listen to anything Evette said if I hadn't seen you in weeks. Could you?"

Juliette sat back down in a huff. Ella was right. If anyone should break Evette's rule it should be Marguerite. The bond between every pair in each grade was unbreakable once the two were initiated together. One time she had gone a whole day without seeing Ella and it had practically made Juliette sick to her stomach. She often wondered how Summer managed without her twin, Whitney, who had been kicked out of the institute a little over a month ago. Juliette certainly didn't miss Whitney. The girl had been the world's biggest witch with a capital B, but that didn't stop her from feeling sorry for Summer. She didn't know what she would do without her own twin, Ella.

The threesome began to walk away from her and Ella. "Come on," she said, "let's get closer. I want to hear what they're saying."

The two girls quietly crept through the brush until their ears were able to pick out Marguerite's voice. It seemed that she had taken over Lewis's tour. Juliette peeked out from behind a tree at Lewis. He was shorter than she expected. But height had nothing to do with their problem. Leah was convinced that Lewis was the right man for the job. Juliette trusted her, but, at the same time, Leah tended to get a little over exuberant. In Juliette's mind there were three tests that Lewis would have to pass while he was here. The last one, she knew would be the hardest of them all, but it would be tonight's test that would tell Juliette whether or not Lewis was the right person to help them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Juliette POV**

"Ella!" Juliette whispered into the ear of her friend that wasn't lying against the white pillowcase. Ella groaned and rolled over onto her other side but didn't get up. "Ella!" she whispered again, in the other ear and a bit harsher this time. Ella opened her eyes, squinting in the dark at Juliette.

"Juliette?" Ella muttered, still half-asleep.

Juliette ran back to her side of the room and slipped on her flip-flops. Then, she reconsidered what she was about to do and took them off again. They would make too much noise and she didn't want to wake anyone up—well, anyone other than the one person she intended on getting out of bed. "Come on, get up."

Ella rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on their bedside table. "Jules, it's four a.m."

"I know that," she rolled her eyes at the absurdity of Ella's comment but then realized the room was still too dark for Ella to see her dramatic eye roll. "Just, come on."

"Where are we even going?" Ella sat up in bed. Deciding she was awake enough to catch something, Juliette threw a bathing suit and cover-up at Ella.

"Swimming," she replied simply.

Even without any light she knew Ella had narrowed her eyes at her, obviously suspicious. "Can you tell me why we are going to the pool at four o'clock in the morning?"

"We're going at four o'clock in the morning because we aren't going to the pool," Juliette said, "We're going in the ocean."

"No," Ella said immediately, lying back down and pulling her pillow over her head. Juliette sighed. She knew Ella would react this way. Ella has always been a stickler for the rules, while she has always preferred to break them. It was one of the many reasons why they were perfect for each other. There were times where Ella stopped Juliette from doing something she would have regretted and then there were times (like this one) where Juliette coerced Ella into doing something she would actually enjoy.

"Oh come on El," she whined, "I'm dying being stuck here. And I know you are too."

"It doesn't matter," Ella said, her voice muffled from the pillow over it, "It isn't safe for us to go out there right now."

Juliette rolled her eyes again. And again she wished Ella had seen it—her eye rolls were really being wasted tonight. "It's never been exactly _safe_ for us to go out there. This whole longer drying time thing doesn't change that."

"I know, but Evette doesn't want us to risk it. We swim in the pool and that's it for now," Ella said firmly.

"Ella, you really think the pool is any different from the ocean?" Juliette asked, pulling the pillow off her friend's head, "Cause it's not. Addie told me it took her an hour to get back to normal yesterday. And that was after swimming in _the pool_. Whatever's going on, it isn't limited to the ocean."

Ella bit her lip. Juliette recognized the action—Ella always did it when she was weighing her options—and all she had to do was push her over the edge.

"Please?" Juliette pouted. She pushed her bottom lip out and stared at Ella with her big blue eyes—eyes that were almost the exact same color as Ella's.

Ella sighed and let go of her bottom lip. "Fine."

Juliette smiled wide. "Yes!" she whispered, jerking her fist towards her in victory. She watched as Ella climbed out of bed and changed.

The two girls tiptoed out of their suite and down the cobblestoned path. They were especially careful to not make any noise when passing the first two suites—the ones belonging to Leah and Marguerite, and Adelaide and Cecilia—but when they came upon the third suite next to the path, Juliette stopped.

This was the suite that Lewis was staying in. She was sure he would be asleep, but a part of her desperately wanted to wake him up. Evette had decided against telling Lewis what the institute really was last night. She told the girls that she wanted to make sure Lewis got settled in before they revealed any secrets. It was a decision that Juliette didn't agree with, and had argued against with her grandmother the rest of the night. But, in the end, Evette and the teachers had the final say—Lewis would remain ignorant to the girls' secret until they found the right time to break the news to him—which Juliette recognized as just another way of saying "it wasn't going to happen". If Evette had her way, Lewis would never discover the girls' secret, but Juliette thought her grandmother was simply being overprotective. Leah had told them Lewis had experience with their type of situation. So why couldn't he be filled in? She didn't know how everyone expected Lewis to solve their problem if he didn't even know its context. And that was why Juliette was going to do everything in her power to make sure Lewis discovered their secret on his own. While the others would be working hard to make sure he didn't become suspicious of them, she would be working hard to make sure he did, starting tonight.

Reaching down, Juliette picked up a handful of pebbles. Glancing at Ella to make sure she was far enough ahead, Juliette held up her arm and tossed the rocks at the wall of Lewis's suite. Then she ran to catch up with Ella—smiling as she listened to the pitter-patter of the pebbles as they hit the wall.

Ella slowly turned, eyes wide as she stared at her. "_What_ was that?" she hissed.

Juliette pursed her lips to keep from smiling so much. "Nothing," she said, "let's go." She pulled Ella's hand, glancing one last time at the path behind them, before dashing off towards the dock. The two girls removed their cover-ups, and then dove under the dark waves together.

**Lewis POV**

Lewis couldn't sleep. Even after the longest plane ride of his life, the blissfulness of falling into a deep slumber wouldn't come to him. He blamed the time difference. How could people actually expect him to sleep when normally at this time he would be finishing dinner?

He thought about the day to come. Neither Marguerite nor Leah had shown him the inside of the lab he would get to work in during his tour of the island. He had also noticed how they had refused to tell him what was at the end of the path beside the laboratory. They had, however, taken point to introduce him to the rest of the girls living on the island. He had met Cecilia, Adelaide—who preferred to be called Addie—both of which who were his age, and then Ella and Juliette who were two years younger than him. He had barely been able to handle the energy and enthusiasm that swirled around him when both Leah and Juliette were in the same room. It was like they built off of one another. But, at the same time he could tell that Leah's energy was giddier while Juliette simply seemed more impulsive—she did what she wanted and no one was going to get in her way. In a way, Juliette reminded Lewis of Rikki, and, it was for that reason that he needed to remember to be careful around the girl. At dinner, both Leah and Juliette had repeatedly thrown out odd comments that Lewis didn't understand and anytime he pointed them out Marguerite or Ella would shoot a glare at their friends.

He sighed and rolled over onto his other side again. The clock beside his bed read 4:04am. He had at least another two hours before anyone else would wake up, and Evette had said that the dining hall didn't open until seven. What was he supposed to do for the next three hours? He knew he could no longer lie in bed, pretending that his body would succumb to sleep, when he obviously was so wide awake that nothing could take him by surprise.

As if to prove him wrong, something outside hit his "suite"—which he really thought was more of a glorified beach shack. He bolted out of bed and ran to the window. He couldn't see anything, but it had sounded like hail had hit the wall of his room. And that wasn't possible. He was in Florida—the very bottom of Florida—he was pretty sure it never hailed in Key West.

Slipping on his shoes, Lewis opened the door and stepped outside. The air was warm but there was a light breeze coming off the waterfront. He walked silently down the path to the dock and sat down at the end of it. The moon was still high in the sky—a crescent tonight, thankfully not full. He worried about what Cleo, Rikki and Bella would do during the next full moon. During the last one, the tentacle had taken Bella, and from how Cleo and Rikki described the scene when they found her, it had almost taken her permanently. But the girls had Will. And although, Will didn't have the scientific expertise that he had, Lewis knew Will would do anything to protect the girls, especially Bella.

Just then, Lewis heard a splash and a distinctive giggle to his right. He looked out at the waves crashing against the sand and saw two heads poking out of the water.

"Stop it, Jules!" he heard one girl say, "If it takes us as long to dry off as it did Addie or Marguerite, then we better get out now."

"Okay, fine," Juliette said.

Lewis watched as Juliette and Ella pulled themselves out of the water. Lewis was afraid to move or make a sound as he watched the girls' arms dig into the sand so they could pull their bodies out of the surf. He blinked a couple times to make sure he was seeing right. He was.

The two girls were mermaids.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I would like to thank**__ mixaholic__**, **__Lilypel__**, and **__Ariana Writer__** for the awesome reviews. Reading them really makes my day!**_

**Lewis POV**

Mermaids. _Mermaids._ Why did there always have to be mermaids? Why couldn't he study marine biology without any half-human, half-fish popping up? He was beginning to wonder if he was someone drawn to them—or maybe they were drawn to him. The evidence was there—he had been Cleo, Rikki and Emma's only confidant for a long time, and then Bella came into the picture, and now there was Juliette and Ella. What were the odds of one person knowing the existence of not one but _six_ mermaids? He was almost positive they were about a billion to one.

When Lewis returned to his suite slash cabin earlier that morning—after witnessing the tails of the two younger girls—he knew there would be no chance of him getting some sleep before breakfast. The only problem with that was that it meant he had an hour to waste, during which his brain started turning over question after question about the American Marine Biology Institute and its students.

His first question was whether or not Juliette and Ella were the only mermaids at the institute. But he was pretty sure they weren't. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Leah and Marguerite had been acting strange around water a lot yesterday. He probably hadn't noticed then because he was so used to seeing Cleo not grab a cold drink or be careful to not walk under clusters of trees. Of course he couldn't know for sure unless he dumped water on Leah and Marguerite—which he wasn't about to do—but he was definitely suspicious.

And then there were the other three girls, Adelaide, Cecilia and Summer—each of whom he had only met in passing. Could they be mermaids too? Could it even be possible that Evette and the other teachers were mermaids as well? Ms. Chatham had been a mermaid when she was younger, and had she not lost her powers during that special full moon she probably would have still been a mermaid when he, Cleo, Rikki and Emma met her. But if all the women on this island were mermaids then why was he here? And Mason too? Lewis knew the guy wasn't some kind of merman—he had seen him swimming laps in the pool yesterday. He just didn't understand. If the American Marine Biology Institute was really just a cover (as Leah had called the address on the brochure) for a mermaid school then why did they invite him to come? They couldn't actually need him to do research for them.

"Lewis? Lewis?"

"Huh?" He looked up from his plate of eggs and toast to look at Leah.

"You okay?" she asked, "You kind of zoned out there for a second."

"Oh, yeah," he said, "Fine."

She smiled at him and then cut another piece of her omelet. Lewis noticed that she had a straw in her milk carton. Definitely a mermaid, he decided. But he couldn't just confront Leah about it. What he really wanted to do was talk to Juliette and Ella—or at least Juliette since Ella didn't really seem like the talkative type. They were the only two he was positive were mermaids, since he had seen their tails earlier, but they hadn't showed up for breakfast this morning. He wondered if they knew he knew. What if they had seen him on the dock? Were they hiding from him? He hoped not. Right now, they were the only ones who could provide him with any answers.

"Lewis?"

He turned around to find Evette standing behind him with one of the other teachers—he couldn't remember which one. "Yeah?"

"When you're finished with your breakfast I'd like for you to meet me outside the laboratory, okay?" the older woman asked.

Lewis nodded. He watched as the two women walked away from the table and back out of the room.

"What'd ya do?" Leah asked him

"What?"

"What'd ya do to get in trouble with Evette?" Leah asked, "And only on your second day too."

Trouble? He hadn't done anything wrong. Unless…unless he wasn't supposed to know that Juliette and Ella were mermaids. Oh no. What if Evette someone found out he saw them and now she wanted to meet with him to send him home? What would Cleo say if she knew he hadn't even lasted a day here? He was supposed to be the science wiz. He couldn't be kicked out of the American Marine Biology Institute—even if that wasn't really what it was.

"Relax," Leah said looking at him funny, "I was only kidding. You're not in trouble."

He looked at her small face, suddenly interested. "So you know what this is about?"

Leah's eyes widened as she bit down on her bottom lip. "Maybe," she whispered.

"Tell me."

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Please?" Lewis asked, "I need to know what is going on here."

Leah narrowed her eyes at him. "What makes you think there is anything 'going on'?"

"Oh, uh," Lewis struggled to come up with a good lie while Leah's eyes got even narrower, "Well, everyone here just seems really secretive."

"Of course we're secretive," Leah said a matter-of-factly, "We don't want our findings shared with any of the competition before they're officially published."

"Right, of course," Lewis said, looking away. Great. Now he had Leah _suspicious of him_. Ever since he landed in the Florida he had felt that Leah was on his side, and now he wasn't so sure.

Once he was finished with his breakfast, he cleared his plate and walked out of the dining hall, into the warmth of the morning Floridian sun. He could see the laboratory in the distance. He had only just started down the walkway when Leah came up beside him. She didn't say anything, and neither did he. He wasn't sure, but he got the feeling that she was nervous. She kept intertwining and untwining her fingers. There was also the fact that she wasn't talking. There had rarely been a moment since Lewis had met Leah when she wasn't talking. Surprisingly, he found himself missing her babble. He wished she would tell him why Evette wanted to see him. Whatever secret the institute was hiding (besides it being home to two mermaids), Lewis knew Leah was in on it.

When they reached the steel door to the laboratory, he held it open, allowing Leah to walk inside first. He followed her. As the door clicked behind him his mouth dropped open—he couldn't help it. The institute's lab was even more impressive and inviting than Lewis had expected. Every piece of scientific equipment he had ever dreamed about, plus about a dozen he didn't even recognize, was there. His eyes flashed from machine to machine—unable to pick one to admire. He had no idea how he was going to choose one to work with first.

"Lewis."

His head swiveled to the left at the sound of his name.

Evette was wearing what looked like a mix between a lab coat and a raincoat. Beside her were two of the teachers, also wearing the strange lab/raincoat. Evette smiled at him. "This way," she said, gesturing to a hall behind her, "there's something we need to tell you."

Tell him? Was he going to find out the institute's big secret? Was he finally going to find out why he was brought here? Lewis nodded and followed Evette and the other teachers down the hall, Leah on his heels.

Evette stopped at a door at the end of the hall. She exchanged a look with Leah before she addressed Lewis. "Now Lewis, Leah assures me that what I am about to show you will not come as a shock, but forgive me if I am still unconvinced. I need you to promise me that you will not breath a word of what you see and learn while on this island to anyone."

"I promise," he said.

Evette opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for him as well. The first thing Lewis noticed was the giant tank of water which made up most of the wall to his right. And the second thing Lewis noticed was Juliette and Ella—both still in their mermaid forms—lying on what looked like a big examination table. He was horrified. He knew from his experiences with Dr. Denman that mermaids and scientists with big budgets did not go together. But he never thought he would find proof of that here.

"What are you doing?" he shouted, turning on Evette, "You can't hold them here! You have to let them go!" He gaze flew back to Juliette and Ella.

Juliette rolled her eyes. "Relax, Lewis," she said, "They're not holding us captive here."

"They're trying to help us," Ella added.

"Actually," Leah started, walking over to stand beside the mermaids, "We're all trying to help ourselves."

"What are you talking about?" Lewis asked.

"We're mermaids, Lewis," Juliette said a matter-of-factly, "_all of us_."


	6. Chapter 6

**Juliette POV**

Lewis was stunned—to say the least. He kept opening his mouth to say something then quickly closing it and looking away, his eyebrows down so close to his eyes that Juliette wondered how he could possibly see through them. She thought he would have reacted better to the news that the entire island was full of mermaids since he already knew mermaids existed, but apparently not.

"Lewis?" Leah asked as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Lewis's head snapped up to look at Leah. "You're a mermaid too?"

Slowly, Leah nodded. "We all are."

Standing behind Lewis and Leah, Juliette could see her grandmother and Kylie exchanging worried looks. She knew what they were thinking—that perhaps if Lewis couldn't handle the fact that they were all mermaids then he probably was the wrong person to help us.

Just then Mason strode into the room, carrying a clipboard. Juliette didn't know what was on it exactly, but she was pretty sure it was the results of some test. Juliette watched as Mason handed the clipboard to Kylie and then walked over and planted a kiss on Ella's forehead.

Lewis was staring at him. "You—you're not…you're not one too, are you?" he asked, stuttering a bit.

Mason frowned. "One what?"

"Merman?" Lewis asked.

Mason laughed. "No," he said, "I'm just a guy who happens to like marine biology."

"Oh," was all Lewis said, but Juliette caught the tone of relief in his voice. Now she was beginning to have her doubts. Could he handle this?

After a moment, Lewis spoke again, "How?" he asked, "How are you _all_ mermaids?"

Evette, who had been reading the results from the clipboard Mason handed to Kylie, stepped forward. "The American Marine Biology Institute is not just a school that studies marine biology, but it is also a school for mermaids," Evette explained. When Lewis didn't say anything, she continued, "The school was founded one hundred years ago. Since then two fifteen-year-old girls from across the continent have been chosen to be initiated into our program each year. It is here that the girls receive their mermaid gifts and learn our history and how to control their powers."

"Do they have a choice?" Lewis asked.

"Do they—what? I'm sorry?"

"Do they have a choice?" Lewis repeated, "Do they get to choose whether or not they become mermaids?"

Juliette saw the realization on her grandmother's face, but she still thought it was a rather odd question to ask. What girl wouldn't choose to be a mermaid?

"No," Evette answered, "Every girl is marked before she comes to the institute. If she does not change into a mermaid within a month of being marked she will begin to fall into a state of deep depression."

"But how can you forcibly change someone's life like that?" Lewis asked, clearly angry, "Becoming a mermaid is huge. You can't make that decision for someone."

Juliette's grandmother looked surprised. "I don't," she said, "none of us do. Like I said before, each of the girls is chosen. Besides, if a girl is truly unhappy as a mermaid then there are ways in which we can remove her powers."

Juliette recalled the last time a mermaid had her powers taken away. It had only been a few months ago, but to Juliette it felt like forever ago. Whitney, who had been a senior when Juliette was a freshman, had not only revealed her sister mermaids' secret but she had also used her powers to harm the other girls. When Juliette's grandmother and the other teachers found out about Whitney's treachery they decided it best for them to take away Whitney's powers and mermaid half. Whitney was then forced to leave the island, while her twin, Summer, stayed behind. Juliette often wondered what it was like for Summer to be separated from Whitney. Just as every pair does, Whitney and Summer had gotten their mermaid powers together, forever bounding them. But, now that Whitney was no longer a mermaid, Juliette wondered if Summer still felt the same connection to Whitney as Juliette felt to Ella.

"Chosen?" Lewis frowned again, "What do you mean chosen?"

It was then that Evette smiled. "Come," she said, "I'll show you."

**Lewis POV**

Evette led Lewis out of the room and back down the hall. But, instead of turning to the door that led outside, Evette walked through the large, open room with all the lab equipment. Lewis was in heaven. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Every piece of technology possible for studying marine biology, old and new, was in that room. Lewis was sure he could spend days, maybe even weeks, in there alone.

But Evette didn't pay any attention to the marvelous equipment. Instead she walked right past all the machines to a small door in the back of the room that, until Lewis was standing right in front of it, had been hidden.

"What's in there?" Lewis asked.

"I'm going to show you," Evette said, "But again, I must ask you to promise to never breath a word of what you see."

"Of course."

Evette opened the door and led Lewis through it. He didn't know what he expected to find, but he definitely didn't expect to be outside again. He followed Evette down another cobblestoned path. Evette can to an abrupt stop when the path ended, blocked by multiple palm trees. Lewis frowned. Where were they going?

Then, all of sudden, slipped between two palm trees and disappeared out of sight. Lewis didn't know where they were going, or what Evette wanted to show him, but, finding the gap in the trees where Evette had disappeared, he followed her. Ducking his head, Lewis squeezed through the trees and stood back up.

He found himself standing in a tight circle of palm trees, and, in the middle of the circle was a pool of water. Of course! How could he have been so stupid? "Of course! You have a moonpool!" he exclaimed.

"A moonpool?" Evette repeated.

Lewis gestured to the water in front of the two of them. "A moonpool that turns people into mermaids."

"We call it the Crystal Lagoon," Evette said.

Staring at the institute's moonpool, Lewis could see exactly why they referred to it as the Crystal Lagoon. The inner walls of the pool (including the bottom of it) weren't made of rock like the one on Mako Island back in Australia, they were made entirely of a blue crystalline form. The walls looked exactly like the one wall that changed in the Mako Island moonpool did during a full moon. Only it wasn't a full moon right now. The walls of this moonpool were like that permanently, and they were beautiful. The rays of sunlight bounced off the walls and into the water, making the whole pool sparkle like one giant disco ball. It was truly breathtaking.

"The Crystal Lagoon is what chooses our new mermaids each year," Evette said.

"How?" Lewis asked.

Evette smiled at him. "Magic."

Although, this moonpool and the one back on Mako were very different in appearance, they still had that one thing in common. Even so, it was clear to Lewis that there were still many things he had to learn.

**Please review! I LOVE hearing from my readers! :)**


End file.
